I could not agree more that attending user groups & meetups can have huge benefits (career & personal), and I wanted to echo your suggestion to people to start new groups. I've done this a few times. I started the Portland BarCamp meetups to help the Portland tech community get together monthly across user groups, and most recently, started a lunch group for geeky women in Portland. Both were meetups that I wished were happening. Nobody else had organized them, so I jumped in and got them started. Both have been great experiences for me, and I encourage other people do start meetups in areas of their interest (tech or otherwise!)